Useless
by Wolfwind97
Summary: I don't want to be a burden to the others, but how can I prove to them that I can be useful? Will I have to die in order to prove myself? Focuses on Eric. Oneshot.


**Jackson**

_Oh great, here we go again._ I thought as Daley and Eric argued.

"You need to grow up, Eric! We're all stranded on this island and you're not the only one that matters here!" Daley yelled.

Eric retorted, "I didn't say I was above everybody else!"

Daley held up her hand, "I don't want to hear it, Eric. You obviously only care about yourself, so just keep out of our way!" She turned to walk away.

"You'd like it if I weren't here, wouldn't you?" Eric yelled. A second later, he was on the ground holding his nose. "Why did you do that?"

Daley glared down at him, "I'm sick of you, Eric. Sometimes, I think we would be better off if you weren't here!"

"So, you're telling me to hurry up and die? Well, I'm sorry I have taken my time!" He stated.

Daley stormed off and I walked away, leaving Eric to tend to his bloody nose.

***Later that day***

**Melissa**

We all sat around the fire eating fish, every one of us except one person. "Where's Eric?" I asked.

"Who cares?" Daley asked. Jackson walked into the boys' tent.

Lex spoke up, "Don't you remember what happened the last time this happened? He had an allergic reaction to the oysters. What if something is really wrong?"

Jackson came out from the tent, "His bag is gone."

"So he's ran off?" I asked.

"Apparently." Jackson replied.

Lex stood up, "Do you think we should go and find him?"

"Why?" Daley asked, "He just stays around here doing nothing. I think we will be better off without him."

Jackson sighed, "You're only saying that because you two argued earlier. Think about it, Eric has done some things for us."

Nathan stood up, "Well I don't argee with you, Daley. Eric stayed by my side when my legs were trapped under that plane, even though the tide was coming. I owe him for that."

"And," Lex added. "He did find another way to start a fire."

"Okay, okay, I get it. You want to go after Eric, then you can go ahead." Daley stated.

I looked over at her, "I think we should all go. Besides, if you and Eric had not argued earlier, then he would not have run off."

She sighed, "Fine." She grabbed her backpack, "Let's go."

***At sunset***

**Daley**

I did not even attempt to argue with the others, because I was outnumbered. Unfortunately, we were going to find Eric. Taylor walked alongside me, "What do you have against Eric, anyway?"

"He's useless, immature, lazy, and does not care about anyone other than himself." I stated.

Taylor stayed silent for a moment, "That's not true."

I stared at her, "What?"

"The part where you said he did not care about anybody, it's not true." She replied and grabbed the video camera out of her backpack. "Eric's tape is still in it and I, sort of, watched it."

Everybody stopped and watched the tape. The small screen showed Eric with a bloody nose and I realized he had made this video today. "I don't know what to do." He said. "Back at home, I was popular, but here, I'm nothing. Daley wants me gone and I understand, because I want to be gone too. This... this person I am right now is the real me. I'm selfish, immature, along with many other things, but I don't want to stay like this... I want people to recognize the things I do right, not what I do wrong. The people that survived the crash don't really understand me... I don't understand them either sometimes... But, I want to show them I'm not useless. Maybe sometime in the future I can prove that to them. They are my friends to me, but I have no clue what I am to them. Hopefully, they'll accept me for the person I am someday. Goodbye." The screen went black.

I stared at the blank screen in silence, then lifted me head. "Let's go." We continued walking, all of us determined to find Eric, our friend.

We reached a riverbank with a fast flowing river when Lex said we should split up. We all agreed and started to go in different directions. A tree stretched from one riverbank to the other and I saw a footprint in the mud at the base of the tree. I immediately thought it was Eric's and started to walk across the small tree. Halfway across, the tree lurched to the side and my feet slipped over the edge. I screamed and managed to hang on to the bark. "Help!" My grip started to loosen and I saw my friends in my periphreal vision. Then, I slipped. I was too terrified to even scream as I plummetted toward the fast flowing water.

"Daley!" I heard somebody yell before I was engulfed in water. I tried to fight my way to the surface, but I did not have enough strength. My lungs burned and I couldn't see; I was drowning. I gave up and let the current take me further down into the black water. Then, I felt an arm wrap around my waist and carry me to the surface. _Jackson. _We broke through the surface, and I tried to look at the person that saved me, but we went under again. Seconds passed by like minutes as we were carried by the current. Then, we stopped. I glanced up and saw my friends holding a stick. _Wait, Jackson is with them. _A thin hand grabbed the other end of the stick and held on tight. "Daley, grab on! Hurry!"

I did as he said and we were being pulled to the riverbank.

"Daley, don't let go of the stick no matter what." Somebody whispered in my ear.

I looked back, "Eric, what are you planning?"

"Just trust me, Daley. Please, just trust me. I'm not going to let you die here, just hang on to the stick. I'm going to let go of you so I can have a better grip, okay?" Eric demanded desperately.

I nodded and felt him let go of my waist. I closed my eyes as Eric and I was pulled to safety. Finally, I was on the bank with Nathan and Lex helping me to my feet. "Eric, why-" I turned to look at him, but he was not there.

"He let go." Lex stated. "The weight was too much and he let go..."

**Eric**

The water numbed my entire body, I didn't have the strength to move. I tried my best to keep my head above the water, but it was not working. I took in one last breath before my head went under again. _This is it... What a crappy way to die... It's not peaceful at all... It's painful... _My side hit a rock and I lost some of my precious oxygen. My head started to spin and my lungs burned like fire. _Please... Just let me die quickly... I don't want to suffer... The only thing I have to do is breathe in water and it will be over... _I couldn't stand it anymore, so I opened my mouth and breathed in the water. My mind started going black as I inhaled again and again. _Why is it taking so long? _I wondered as I continued to breathe in the water. A few seconds later, I could feel my heartbeat slow. _It's happening... I'm finally dying... I wonder how the others will be... _Something grabbed my arm, _stupid root... Will they get off this island... will they... _My mind went black.

**Jackson**

I hauled Eric to the rocky riverbank and listened for his heartbeat. It was not there. The others watched helplessly as I started to pump his chest, trying to get the water out of his lungs and get his heart beating. "Come on, breathe. Breathe." Eric just lay there on his back with his eyes closed. "Please, we can't lose anybody. Come on, Eric. Breathe. You're stronger than this, now come on." Everybody was crying, even me. I finally gave up and accepted the fact that he was dead. Nobody could move, because we were too stunned by his death.

Minutes passed before Eric started coughing violently, getting the water out of his lungs. He rolled over onto his side and continued to cough up water. Every one of us sighed in relief and I put my hand on his back, steadying him a little. He finally slumped onto the ground and tried to breathe normally.

Daley sat down next to him and he looked up at her and the rest of us. Then, Daley done something I never thought she could do, she hugged Eric and started crying harder. "Thank you... I'm so sorry..."

Eric was shocked, but he hugged her back. "It's okay... But, can you please let go of me now... My side..." Daley lifted his shirt up until we could see a huge bruise on his side where his ribs were. He laid back on the ground and tried to regain some of his strength, but we dragged him to his feet and carried him back to camp, because it was growing dark. We finally made it back to camp and Eric passed out from exhaustion.

***The next morning***

**Eric**

I opened my eyes and realized I was not dead and looked around the tent and saw Daley.

"You're finally awake." She said, smiling.

I nodded, "What are you doing in the boys' tent?"

She smiled, "I wanted to ask you something." I waited. "Why did you save me? After everything I said to you..."

"I may have been mad, but I'm not going to let anybody get hurt if I can help it." I stated.

She stared at me, "So that's what you were talking about in your tape. You actually care about everybody, but you just don't show it often."

"Exactly," I said. "Wait a minute... you watched my video?"

She nodded, "We all did." Then she stood up and exited the tent, "That's an invasion of privacy!"

"I don't care, Eric! After all, friends invade each others privacy all the time!" Daley stated.

I smiled. I finally got what I wanted. People won't look down on me all the time and I showed them that I care about their well-being as well as mine. Slowly, my eyes drifted closed. _I'm finaly considered useful. _With that thought, I went into a peaceful sleep, even though my side was throbbing.


End file.
